Reconstruction

I thought i might explain a little about one of the subjects of this blog, reconstruction. If you have never encountered the world in a religious manner, allow me to ramble a bit. What most of the world is willing to lump together under the name “Pagan” is actually a very complex web of related and not-so related religious forms and practices. Where as most of the pagan community is populated with Wiccans, not all under that umbrella are indeed Wiccan. Many other branches exist. One major branch with many sub-branches is called Reconstructionism. This is the attempt by modern spiritual explorers to re-map, re-build, and re-construct the culture, worldviews, and religious practices of our pre-christian, indo-european ancestors. It is different than other pagan or neo-pagan spiritual paths because of it’s foundation built on culturally specific and historically accurate information. Reconstructionists are the only branch of Paganism that draws the bulk of it’s information from historical, linguistical, archeological, and literary sources. All other Pagan or Neo-pagan paths draw their information from revivalist or proto-revivalist sources. Reconstructionists understand that one cannot simply extract the religion from an ancient culture. Many other elements need to be considered such as language, worldview, and social institutions. The bulk of reconstruction work is centered around the gathering of information, the interpretation of that information, and the application of the information. It might appear on the surface to be an approach of imitation or utopian romanticism, but it must be understood that reconstructionists live in the modern world with current concerns.

Recons, as we are often referred as, have a much different take on the political, economic, social, religious landscape than most who would label themselves as pagans. Our outlooks are greatly influenced by our reconstruction worldview. Often times this conflicts with modern worldviews and has led many to color reconstruction as anti-modernists or archaic. And indeed, a lot of recons might agree with that assessment.

The largest sub-branch under reconstruction is Heathenry. This is a Germanic reconstruction that includes England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland as well as parts of France. Some are more liberal with the word Heathen and include other northern european cultures like Celtic, Baltic, Slavic, etc.
What does it mean to be a reconstructionist? It might sound like an obvious answer is due. Indeed, the answer is obvious. A reconstructionist reconstructs. It sounds rather tautological, but it’s true. Let me explain this a bit further. By reconstruct I need to stress the action here. It is a verb and as such, has requirements that place it outside of merely theorizing or labeling. By saying that a reconstructionist reconstructs, what I’m saying is that each one of us needs to walk down that road and perform his/her own reconstruction, not simply follow someone else’s version of how things should be.

Books have been written by many famous ( at least in the heathen community ) authors (Gundarsson, Wodening, Thorsson, Aswynn etc.) and these books have tremendous value as documents of a particular reconstruction as well as a storehouse of generally difficult to obtain material. But, they are merely one person’s reconstruction. Does that mean that some one cannot follow the general plan that exists in these books? Certainly not. But, if that’s the case, that follower is not what I would call a reconstructionist. You could call them a heathen, but a not a legitimate reconstructionist.

Heathenry is often called the religion with homework. But this is only partially true. I could certainly see a kindred offering basic instruction classes on heathenry with a very little investigation by the participants . Reconstruction is the method of investigation and rebuilding. Reconstruction is the homework.

One other thing needs to be mentioned. Reconstruction is the re-building of a once living faith and a way of life, but it is also the re-building of one’s self. The old ways have been demolished and the pieces buried, taken, and removed. Trying to find and put back together these various scattered elements is the core to defining reconstruction. Many of us that have explored the idea of alternative faiths, or ancient worldviews can see that we are missing something in our lives. Once i began to re-build the worldview and religion of pre-christian northern europe, i began to re-build who i was and how i related to the world. Reconstruction demands that you change, and that you examine your actions, environment, and outlook. Only then are you a reconstructionist.